Working Hours Act
October 27, 2009 | 50,00 EUR | answered by Andreas Scholz
If an employee of a company has worked the maximum allowable working time of 10 hours during a business trip and now wants to take his 11-hour rest period, does the Working Time Act or a previously published judgment authorize him to stay at a hotel at the employer's expense?
If yes, what is the file number of a judgment relevant to this case?
Dear inquirer,
There is a legal obligation for the employer to reimburse costs in principle according to § 670 of the German Civil Code. If your employment contract does not contain any provisions regarding reimbursement of costs and there are no tariff regulations regarding this matter, you would potentially have to seek reimbursement through legal action.
Reimbursement of costs can be stipulated in the contract (or by tariff agreement).
In case contractual or tariff regulations do not apply to you, the court would have to determine in a legal dispute whether the overnight costs were actually necessary.
The necessity does not generally arise from the Working Hours Act. Because what the employee does during rest periods is generally their own affair, it cannot be conclusively stated that the mandatory 11-hour rest period entitles the employee to avoid travel time home. The necessity would then be a case-by-case question. If you were required to spend most of the rest period traveling home, then an overnight stay would be necessary. However, if the travel time was minimal, an overnight stay would not be legally necessary.
I hope this has been helpful to you. If you have any uncertainties, please feel free to ask.
Kind regards,
Andreas Scholz, Attorney
